Maui's Taonga Tales

Overview

Aimed at children aged seven to eleven, this book’s lively stories tell thetales of some of the taonga held at Aotearoa New Zealand’s famous nationalmuseum, Te Papa, through appealing text and fantastic illustrations.The book’s pukorero, or story teller, is Maui, the great Pacific hero and trickster.The stories are from both long ago and recent times and have been chosen inconsultation with Te Papa’s matauranga Maori curators and the relevant iwi.They range from how Ruhia’s kaitaka, or cloak, saved the life of a young boyand why the band Herbs wrote a song about nuclear testing in the Pacific toHuria Matenga and the Shipwreck, Rata and the Children of Tane, Willie Apiataand the Tough Decision, Hinemoa and Tutanekai, Te Paea and the Ghost Waka,Kahe’s Epic Swim, Heni and the Battle of Gate Pa, Kupe and the Giant Wheke,and Tane and the Kete of Knowledge.Each story is told via illustrations created by young Maori artists; some haveillustrated stories from their own iwi. The book is linked to the TV series HePaki Taonga i a Maui, funded by Te Mangai Paho.